


Ignition III

by blythechild



Series: Ignition Series [3]
Category: V for Vendetta (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-13
Updated: 2012-02-13
Packaged: 2017-10-31 01:49:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/338545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blythechild/pseuds/blythechild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is part 3 of the Ignition Series. You don't have to read the previous 2 parts to understand this, but it helps. In this story, Evey and V have become vigilante partners against Norsefire. During a night raid, they are confronted by a band of outlaws who believe that V & Evey are just as much a threat as Fingermen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ignition III

**Author's Note:**

> Go read parts 1 & 2\. You know you wanna...
> 
> This is a work of fanfiction and as such I do not claim ownership of any characters herein. This was created as a personal entertainment. This story contains mature themes and acts of violence. It should not be read by those under the age of 14. I also do not condone or endorse any of the acts described in this story.

He crouched on the edge of the narrow parapet and loomed out over the city. A slight evening breeze caught the hem of his cloak and fluted it around his form, as if he were made of shadow only and that shadow was flickering. He breathed in deeply and took in the feel of the city. It was early yet and there was plenty to accomplish but he thrilled already to the potential outcome of the night: it had been quite some time since he had the will to do something purely chaotic and good. He was changing and for the first time ever he was not afraid of what that change meant.

He rose and stood hundreds of feet above the street feeling no sense of vertigo whatsoever; he never did. Lurking along rooftops made him feel free and filled him with a sense of possibility, perhaps even a fugitive sense of hope. _No_ , he thought as he smiled behind the mask, _the hope was hers. I am just a Johnny-come-lately to that party…._ With one last breath he gazed over the city - _his_ city – and then backed along the narrow outcropping. Without hesitation, he ran to its edge at full speed and launched himself with simian grace into the empty night air and disappeared into the darkness below. 

\--------------------------------

He had enjoyed the exercise of his night run too much and had arrived ahead of schedule. Now, there was nothing to do but wait, and though he could be a patient man, he found waiting to be an unforgivable waste. He did not have much time to mull it over before he sensed movement behind him. He had heard nothing as the figure approached. _Most impressive_ , he thought silently.

“You’re early.” He said quietly.

“I know how you despise waste.” The figure appeared from behind a smoke stack, just a thin shadow.

His heart swelled to bursting for a second before he could regain control of himself again. _Focus, man! There is important work to be done._

“How did it go?” he kept the excitement from his voice.

“Everything is in place. The cameras will shut themselves off in…” the shadow checked its wrist “4 minutes 30 seconds. The Ear mics will be similarly affected and the localized dampening field has prevented electro and microwave transmissions for a square mile around the site for the past hour. We’re ready – just more waiting now, I suppose.”

The shadow shrugged casually and walked over to him. It was thinner, lighter and smaller than him but its edges flickered in the same manner as his did. The figure wore a trim, dark tunic with long vents up the sides for freedom of movement that also swirled about its legs to disguise its true shape. A deep cowl engulfed the figure’s head, casting long shadows where the face should have been. Rubber soled boots moved under the tunic and melted into dark leggings that all but disappeared from view when the figure stood still. For all appearances, this person was some sort of mysterious, night crawling monk. The monk reached under the cowl and removed a black faceplate that covered the nose and mouth, and pulled back the hood revealing a cascade of brown curls that framed a petit face.

“How are things on your end?” Evey asked, happy to feel the cool night air on her face again.

“The delivery is on schedule. The route has not been altered and the security accompaniment is surprisingly light.” V responded, smiling behind his mask.

“I suppose that they don’t expect any resistance.” Evey’s features darkened a fraction.

V reached out and tangled a gloved finger in one of her loose curls.

“Yes. They won’t know what hit them.”

Evey grabbed his glove and gave it a light peck.

“Come on. Its almost time.”

\---------------------------------------------------

Evey hid in the deep shadows of the doorway of an abandoned shop. This part of London – formerly an East Indian neighborhood – was all but a ghost town now. No one lived here but a few escapees who lurked amongst the ruins like feral dogs and were routinely rounded up and ‘disappeared’ by the local constabulary. Sensitive deliveries were ferried through neighborhoods like these late at night so that the populace would remain unaware of the party’s actions: they remained under the heel of Norsefire but it was best not to give them too much of a questionable nature to think on. This truck was delivering munitions and medical supplies to troops beyond the ‘quarantine area’ – a fiction created by the Party to keep citizens from escaping the major cities – where an insurrection had developed causing Norsefire no end of trouble. _Folks after V’s heart_ , Evey thought. He would foment anarchy and instability wherever he could manage it. The cheeky bastard!

She was roused from her thoughts by the distant sounds of an 18-gear transmission shifting resentfully. She pressed the small transceiver in her ear.

“Status?” she breathed.

 _Target is 2 blocks out, heading northwest._ V’s silken voice growled in her ear. _The package?_

Evey checked her detonator.

“Green across the board.”

_Standby. Activate on my mark._

“Roger.”

Evey’s pulse was pounding. She was ready. She knew the plan. She was even prepared to take down a guard or two, but the frightened child in her still feared conflict. Slowly, unmercifully, V was beating that instinct out of her, but she was still a work in progress. _Just follow his lead. He’s got your back._ Yes, V would never let her down – she would commit to the same discipline.

The truck rumbled through the large intersection just south of her position, kicking up noxious dust as it went. No need to be stealthy in a neighborhood populated by the dead and the forgotten. It rolled onwards to its date with destiny.

_Standby. On three. One…. Two…. Three!_

Evey detonated the charge and the buildings flanking either side of the truck exploded in a shower of brick, glass and twisted steel. The truck driver was on the ball and braked suddenly enough to avoid the debris crushing his engine block, but the road had become impassable. That’s when the yelling started as armed guards spilled out of the truck like clowns from a VW bug. 

Evey was already sprinting across the square towards the back of the truck. In her peripheral vision she saw V drop to the road from a balcony above, roll forward to cushion the impact and rise into a run without misplacing a step. _How the hell does he do that?!_ , Evey thought. Guards appeared around either side of the truck; 12 in all. _Focus, girlfriend!_ , Evey chided herself as she slid a wakizashi blade from a scabbard on her thigh. 

By the time that she had reached the truck, V had already dispatched 2 guards. _Show off! I can’t throw this thing!_ Evey cut her first guard down with a single lateral slash that opened his face and chest up. She did not wait to see him fall but moved towards the second guard and lopped off his right hand at the wrist: you can’t fire a machine gun without both hands. The guards were all armed but V distained firearms. He claimed that it made men lazy and that one should always be close enough to see death come over a person if you felt righteous enough to take another’s life. Also, gunshots, even muffled ones, drew unwanted attention. Hence, Evey ran into battle with thugs armed only with a Japanese knife.

Evey closed the ground between her third and fourth victim quickly – she would never have V’s speed or agility, but by moving _through_ an enemy field, she could still surprise them and make a difficult target. She blocked an enterprising blow from one guard with the flat of her blade, then she reached down to her other thigh and released her other wakizashi in time to slash the 4th guard’s throat clean across. The dead guard crumpled, shocking his companion whose eyes widened in fear just as Evey threw off the weight of his block on her one blade while penetrating his chest with the other. She found the spot just below the rib cage to the right and pushed upwards collapsing his lung and piercing his heart in one move. Removing her blade from the guard’s chest with a sickly squishing noise, she stepped back a pace, spun and plunged her blade into the chest of the 5th guard who was running at her. The guard fell and she abandoned her blade in his chest. She turned suddenly to face her 6th victim but came face-to-face with a gun barrel instead.

“You bastard!” The guard growled.

Evey held her breath and froze, waiting to hear the click before oblivion. Black hands circled the guard’s neck and chin, pulling in opposite directions and severing his spine. The guard collapsed and V appeared standing behind him. He nodded and threw a sack at her.

“The doors! Now!”

As V disappeared to take care of the remaining guards, Evey rooted through the sack and found the shape charge and detonator inside. She quickly applied it to the truck’s back doors and primed the detonator. She looked around quickly but could not see V. She had to blow it – she had no choice. Evey tapped her ear.

“Fire in the hole!”

Leaping for cover just in time, the charge blew a man-sized hole in the armored rear doors and shattered every window facing the scene with the force of its concussion. When the dust settled, Evey ran to the opening and peered inside. Slowly, she backed away from the doors and tapped her earpiece again.

“V, I need you. It’s not what we thought.”

\----------------------------------------------

The crystalline tinkle of shattered glass punctuated the low hum that follows a large explosion. V’s hearing throbbed with the aftereffects of the blast; he had been too near the truck when it had blown. He would be hearing bells for a couple of days as a result. He heard Evey faintly over his earpiece and ran to the truck’s doors. Evey stood away from the doors, staring. V looked her over and saw that she was unharmed. She turned to face him, only her large brown eyes showing and pointed towards the doors. V moved to the hole in the truck and looked inside.

The truck was filled with shackled people. Women and children: all shorn and wearing grey jumpsuits. A few at the entry were down and bloody from the blast, the rest cowered in the rear their wide eyes trained on the 2 black-clad marauders that were their immediate threat. V bent down to check for pulses on the fallen prisoners. 2 were dead, the rest were in shock but mobile. V stood and beckoned Evey closer.

“We aren’t here to harm you. The guards escorting you are dead. Do you know where you were going?” V’s voice was like caramel.

No one responded. A few children began to whimper but were quickly shushed by their mothers. Uncontrollable rage consumed Evey as she stared helplessly at the terrified truck occupants. Many were burned, beaten, swollen, they used their feeble bodies to protect that which was most precious to them: their children. Evey flashed to her last memory of her mother and to the memories of the working girls that disappeared and were never spoken of again. Then, she remembered the guard missing his right hand. She stepped outside and searched the ground for him. She found him, still alive, and grappled him by the lapels of his winter coat.

“Where was this truck headed?! Who are these people!” She yelled as V pulled up behind her.

The guard shook his head in resistance and Evey picked up his gun in response an aimed at his knees. 

“Tell me what I want to know, you mindless drone, or I’ll take your knees, then your fingers and toes. It will be most painful, I assure you. Tell me who they are!” Evey shook him violently and her gun hand began to shake.

“Evey…” V warned.

“TELL ME!” She screamed.

“They’re families of dissidents, alright? We rounded them up and pumped them for info about their relatives. Once we identified the targets, we used them as hostages to compel their surrender. These people are animals! No loyalty to their own!” The guard spat.

“Where were you taking them?” V asked.

“They served their purpose – we got what we wanted. We were shipping them to some old camps in the countryside for medical testing, or something – I don’t know the details.”

V staggered a little and stepped backwards. His fists curled and his upper body hunched in menace. Evey looked back at him, her eyes wide and distraught. 

“You okay?” she asked.

V did not answer. He returned to the truck doors and leaned heavily against the opening, breathing shallowly. Finally, he looked up and into the frightened eyes before him.

“Can anyone here drive this vehicle?”

The eyes darted at one another in confusion. A small, wiry middle-aged woman limped forward; he body was bruised, cut and horribly emaciated.

“I think that I can.”

“Get in the cab and drive south. This truck won’t be missed for about 6 hours, if they were taking you where I think they were… You must get clear of civilization before then, understand?” V sounded tired.

The woman nodded and exited the truck carefully.

“V…” Evey called out cautiously.

V looked out of the truck and saw that thin, dirty people in tattered clothing had quietly surrounded the square. Some carried makeshift weapons. All of them wore looks of battle weary resentment. 

“Evey,” V growled “Come closer.”

Evey sidled up against his back and tried not to think too much.

“Why’d you do that?” A voice from the crowd called out.

“We thought that the truck contained supplies and munitions for the army to the north.” V responded matter-of-factly. “But its full of torture victims…”

Evey felt V’s back muscles tense and his arms lower to his sides as they did when he was readying for an attack. _Oh baby, please, please talk our way out of this!_ , she silently begged.

A scruffy, middle-aged man moved through the crowd and walked halfway across the square to confront V. He was not afraid of V or of the neighborhood’s cctv cameras. On closer inspection, his clothes were well worn but mended, his beard had 3 days growth but he appeared to be well fed. He held a handgun loosely at his side, almost casually.

“What were you gonna do wit ‘em?” The man asked. “I say ‘were’ because you’re no in charge ‘ere, mate – understand that an’ we’ll get along…”

“I _was_ going to let them go. I told them to go south; as far and as fast as they could.” V remained calm, respecting this man’s authority. “They are women and children. The families of executed rebels. Some are injured, most are sick. They need food, medical treatment and shelter.”

“Nice idea. They won’t make it though – no’ if they’re as bad off as you say…”

“I can do no better. Do you have a suggestion?” V waved his hand in supplication.

“We’ll care for ‘em – they’re our people, not yours.” The man’s eyes narrowed at V.

“I’m no mercenary.” V lowered his voice in subtle warning.

“I know exactly who you are, terrorist, and because our aims are similar, I’ll let ya walk outta ‘ere. Don’t mean that I trust you. I don’t think that you work for the betterment of tha people – fer ya, its personal. I can see it in everythin’ ya do. That makes you dangerous ta me…” The man waved at the crowd and two men emerged and headed towards the truck.

“We’re takin’ the truck, on account that you blew up our buildin’s without so much as a ‘by yer leave’…”

“Seems reasonable.” V responded dryly. “In return, I want your assurance that these people will be cared for properly.”

The man turned and faced down V.

“They are more ‘my’ people than you know…” V murmured.

The man hesitated and then offered V his hand.

“I’m Birney, and I give you my word.”

“Thank you, Birney. Sorry about the disturbance.” V shook Birney’s hand.

“Ach.” Birney intoned. “Get outta here.”

V reached around and grabbed Evey’s hand, taking one last look back at the prisoners exiting the truck.

“Come on, darling, let’s oblige Mr. Birney.” He whispered.

As they made the safety of the shadows and headed for the rooftops, Evey heard a gun report and looked over her shoulder to see Birney standing over the one handed guard, the muzzle of his gun smoking ominously.

\---------------------------------------

V and Evey made it back to the rooftop of the Gallery, but instead of descending to its safety, V lingered at the roof’s edge, staring out over the city. He had said almost nothing on their journey home and Evey was unsure of him. Finally, she decided to be blunt.

“Baby, are you okay?”

V’s shoulders sagged.

“Is my vendetta selfish?” He whispered so that she was not sure if he was speaking to her or the night. “Have I lost sight of my purpose?”

Evey walked up behind him and laid a gloved palm across the small of his back.

“What you did today was anything but selfish, V.”

V turned to face her.

“The sum of my actions is to destroy those that wronged me, those that made me invisible and insignificant. How is that not selfish?”

“Your vendetta was born out of personal experience, but its results will effect us all.” Evey’s hand swept out over London. “Do you honestly think that I’d help you if your only goal was revenge? Do you not think that every man, woman and child that lives under this regime – even Birney’s crew - _doesn’t_ have a personal motivation driving their acts of rebellion?”

V grabbed Evey’s hands and held them to his chest.

“What I do must be meaningful! All of this suffering cannot be in vain – we must succeed!”

“You saved lives today. You saved them from your own personal hell, V. If we fail, perhaps one of those children will grow up into the person who will carry on our fight. Our actions ripple through time in ways unknown to us, my love.”

V pulled Evey into his chest and removed her mask, then his own. He had never removed his mask in public, to her knowledge.

“You keep my course steady and true, Evey. Promise me that you always will?” A smile curled the edges of his scarred mouth.

“If that means that I can occasionally kick your ass, you’re on!” Evey winked and giggled playfully.

V laughed suddenly, loud and full, and then kissed Evey breathlessly. The two shadows blended into one as his arms swept around her and his cloak enveloped them both under the chill of the night air. Evey released his lips and took little nips of him along his jaw and down his neck until she reached his doublet. He growled as his hands reached beneath her tunic and scanned the skintight bodysuit underneath.

“This suit drives me wild, you know…You might consider how it effects my public image – walking around constantly aroused…” He whispered into her hair.

“Well, maybe now you’ll understand my boot ‘thing’….” She answered as she caught his lip lightly in her teeth. “Wanna go downstairs and trade fashion tips?”

“Depends.” He said seriously. “Do you think that your suit will fit me?”

Evey laughed hysterically and V cradled her into him, vibrating as joy overtook him for the second time that evening. _Oh my dearest, I never did anything so well as love you_ , he thought. Evey pulled away from him and backed towards the lift doorway to the Gallery, her face luminous with delight. 

“I have something much better for you to try on. Much more to your liking. You’ll _adore_ it, I promise…” She laughed and held out her hand for him. He grasped it and allowed her to lead him wherever she wanted him to go.

“I already do, my precious vigilante. I already do.” He whispered as they both disappeared into the comfort of their lair.


End file.
